What to expect in camera tech in 2009

Finally -- finally! -- the camera market is changing. Instead of merely hyping megapixel counts, camera manufacturers are starting to add some exciting new features that will actually help you take better pictures.

We have, of course, been whining about the quality problems of zillion-megapixel cams for a while now. The irony is that the manufacturers feel the same way, telling us that they keep upping the pixel-counts because of customer demand.

Demand is shifting, however, and things are getting exciting. What can we expect to see in this year's new cameras? Read on for our predictions. Some of these new features intermingle, so we've grouped them based on the tech behind them.

High ISO sensors

These have been creeping in at the high end on full-frame DSLRs from both Nikon and Canon, and are starting to trickle down to the point-and-shoot models now, too. Fewer pixels means bigger pixels for a given sensor size, which means more light can be gathered, which in turn means less noise in lower light.

This is important. Up until now, the only way to take shots in dark places was to switch on the flash, and on-camera strobes tend to reflect from retinas and wash out faces. The alternative was to crank the ISO (the equivalent of using faster film in an old, analog camera) and amplify the tiny signals on the sensor. The result was often unusable, noisy, low-contrast pictures.

Expect more and more consumer cams to get better and better at taking decent, noise-free shots even at high ISO settings. Sadly, it'll probably be marketed as 'night shot' mode or some such nonsense.

Video

Video has been a standard feature in point-and-shoot cameras forever. The difference with the new wave of video-capable still cams is the resolution: most new compacts are HD shooters, and this hi-def capability is being used in some interesting ways to augment still images.

Casio uses it in the FC100 to shoot bursts of pictures at super-high frame rates so you can choose the best shot. It also gives you the option of running the video mode constantly, allowing you to effectively step back in time, selecting a picture from before you even pressed the shutter button.

This tech can help with another problem common in pocket cameras: shutter lag. Normally, when you press the shutter, the actual picture is taken up to half a second later. But if the camera is constantly shooting, the computer inside can grab an earlier image. The response time of the machine is still slow, but the video buffer fakes a faster shutter. Neat.

HDR

We don't mean HDR (High Dynamic Range) in the ugly, hyper-real, hyper-colour sense. (Traditionally, photographers have made HDR photos by shooting the same picture at several different exposure settings, then digitally combining them.) We just mean pictures with lots of detail in both shadows and highlights. There are a few manufacturers putting this feature into their cameras, using two main methods. The first is to take a couple of shots in quick succession, one over-exposed and one under-exposed, and combine them into a single picture within the camera. This is how Sony's HX1 does it.

The other trick, used by Fujitsu Fujifilm, is to build a new kind of sensor. The F200 EXR has a sensor which allows it to effectively take two photos at once, both at different exposures. These are then combined to make a single frame. The advantage with Fuji's method is that the double-team sensor can also crank out pictures in near darkness - up to ISO 12800. Who needs a flash?

Clearly things are just starting to get interesting and we're starting to get some cameras that will genuinely change the way we can take pictures. Up until now the focus (ahem) has been on copying film cameras. Now we've done that, it's time to start getting creative.